Means for operating window shades



Sept. 25,1923. I 1,468,832

W- R- PARSONS v MEANS FOR OPERATING WINDOW SHADES Filed Oct. 9, 1920Patented Sept. 25, 1923.

- raiser NTi EEC.

WINSLOW R. reasons, or SAN nrneo, CALIFORNIA."

MEANS FOR OPERATING WINDOVJ SHADES.

:Application filed Gctober Q, 1920. Serial No. 415,783.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WINsLow R. PARSONS, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of San Diego, in the county of San Diego andState of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Means for 'Gperating l Vindow Shades, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates'to improvements in means for operating windowshades wound upon and suspended from the top of a window by aspring-actuated roller, heretofore provided with a'ratchet' and pawladapted for detachablysecuring the shade in any of its adjustedpositions, and which requires that the shade or cord suspended therefromshall be constantly held andmanipulated by'hand until the desiredadjustment is made and the pawl is locked to the ratchet.

The skill required for adjusting and securing such window shades intheir adjusted position is beyond the skill of a child, and with all theskill that a grown-up may have from long practice, it not infrequentlyoccurs that, after the exercise of great patience, in the effort tosecure the shade in its adjusted position, it will slip from the hand ofthe operator and very rapidly wind, for its full length. upon theroller.

Regardless of the means for raising-or lowering a window shade, everysuch shade which, at one end, is free to swing from its point ofsuspension, is liable to be blown away from the sash by a sudden orprolonged gust of wind to a position beyond the reachof a grown-upperson, and so gyrated and twisted and torn as to unfit it, asfrequently occurs, for further use. My invention is therefore directedto a remedy for these several objectionable features accruing to thewindow shades, above re ferred to. i

The object of my invention broadly stated, is to provide a means foroperating window shades that even quite a young child is able to adjustand secure them in their adjusted position.

A further object of my invention is a means by which it is both possibleand practicable to suspend a window shade froma spring-actuated rollerby means operating to maintain the shade under a-tension con- "stantlymaintaining the exposed portion of the shade in a smoothed-out conditionand thereof and continuously in perfect.alinement withthespring-actuated roller upon which it iswound.

A further object of my invention is'to avoid any necessity for thepresence or use of a ratchet and pawl for a shade roller and to have thefree end of the shadeso con.- nected with thetopand bottom bars of thewindowframe with but a slight change in the bottom bar and devices whichare not only very'simple, cheap and convenient of operation by a childfor adjusting and seeuring the shade in its adjusted positiomand in theabsence ofany possibility of the shade being blown either outwardly orvinwardly beyond said frame, or of its being distorted or injured by windof less force than is necessary to burst the shade at a point midwaybetween the ends of the exposed portion thereof.

With these ends in view, my invention finds its embodiment in certainfeatures of novelty in the construction, combination and arrangement ofparts by which the said objects are attained, all as hereinafter fullydescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings andmorepartioularly pointed out in the claims. 7

In said drawings, 7

Fig. '1 is a perspective view of a window shade in which my inventionfinds its embodiment in its operative position with the roller thereforand the the top and bottom ends of the window frame.

Fig. 2 is a section longitudinally through the topand bottom bars of theframe, with the shade and sustaining devices shown in side elevation.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a pulley secured to the top bar of theframe, with its hanger partly in'section and more particularly showingthe location and arrangement of a friction brake for the pulley.

Fig. dis a perspective view of the shade roller, indicating thearrangement of the spring therein for automatically operating the rollerand elevating the shade.

Similar characters of reference indicate the same parts in the severalfigures of the drawings. l

The window frame for the sash thereof comprises the usual top bar 5,bottom bar or sill 6, and side bars 77, to the side bars of which aresecured, in the usual manner, the usual bracket bearing 8 at oppositeends particularly throughout the adjustment for the pintle 9 of theroller, which, as usual,

contains a coiled spring 10 connected at its outer end to the pintle andsecured at its opposite end to the roller.

In other words, the roller for the shade may be and preferably is of thewell known Hartshorn construction, with the ratchet and pawl removedtherefrom, and in order that the roller may continuously exert such aforce as is necessary to wind the shade for its full length thereon.

Adjacent the underside and centrally of the length of the top bar of thewindow frame, is a pulley wheel 11 journaled by means of its shaft 12-in a bracket 18 secured tothe top bar by screws or tacks 14.

Interposed between one and maybe both sides of the bracket and thepulley, is a friction brake 15 for the end of the pulley opposedthereto, which may be of felt, fiber or other suitable material, securedin its operative position by any well known means,

. and which is adapted to produce sufficient friction to prevent thepulley from running on its bearings, from the force of the pull of thecoiled spring for the roller.

Mounted upon and preferably confined in a recess 16 in the bottom bar 6of the frame, is asm'aller pulley 17, of ordinary construc tion,concealed by a plate 18 provided with perforations for the passagetherethrough of the cord 19, passing but once under and around pulley 17but twice around the pulley 11, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the free endsof which are secured to the bottom edge of a window shade 20, provided,as usual, with a stiffening stick 21. As shown in the drawings, a screweye 22 is passed through the fabric of the shade into the stiffeningstick and the ends of the cords are passed through and secured to thisscrew eye, but any suitable device for connecting the ends of the cordwith the bottom edge of the shade may be used, preferably such means aswill conceal the ends of the cord or knots therein, if there be any.

The total length of the cord for operating the shade should not be lessthan the distance between the supporting surfaces of the pulley 11 andthat of the bottom bar of the window frame, to provide for lowering theedge of the free end of the shade to Contact with substantially thelatter surface, and for the purposes of concealing the roller 17 withinthe bottom bar, the length of the cord is accordingly increased.

My invention, however, essentially finds its embodiment in thesuspension of a window shade from a roller provided with a springoperating uninterruptedly to wind the shade upon a roller, and a cordsecured at both of its ends to the end of the shade and passing thenceover supports respectively secured to .the top and bottom crossbars of awindow frame and preferably along the line of the longitudinal centerofwidth of the shade.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A device for the purpose described comprising in combination a windowshade, a suspending roller there-for, av spring operating to wind theshade on said roller, a cord, and means freely supporting said cord fromthe top and bottom bars of a window frame both ends of which cord arelocated and secured adjacent to the free end of the shade.

2. A device for the purpose described comprising in combination a windowshade,

a permanently located suspending roller herefor, a spring operatingwithout interruption to wind the shade on said roller, a cord, and meansfor supporting said cord from the top and bottom bars of a window frameon a line parallel with the longitudinal center of the shade, the freeends of which cord are secured to and adjacent the free end ofsaidshade.

3. A device for the purpose described comprising in combination a windowshade, a suspending roller therefor and imm va'ble bearings for saidroller, a spring continuously operating to wind the shade on saidroller, and pulleys for supporting said cord fromthe top and bottom barsof a window frame on a. vertical line parallel with the longitudinalcenter of the shade.

4. A device for the purpose described comprising in combination a.window shade, a suspending roller therefor, a spring continuouslyoperating to wind the shade on said roller, a cord, pulleys forsupporting said cord in a straight line from the top and bottom bars ofa window frame and a yield ing friction brake opposed to one of saidpulleys. 1 K

5. A. device for the purpose described comprising in combination a widowshade, a suspending roller therefor, a spring continuously operating towind the shade on said roller, pulleys secured to the top and bottombars of a window frame on a vertical straight line parallel with thelongitudinal center of the shade and a. friction brake opposed to thetoppulley.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and afliXed my seal,this 15th day of September, A. D. 1920.

WINSLOWV PARSONS. [1 s] lVitnesses JNo. G. ELLIOTT, H. SLACK,

